Search results

1 – 10 of over 3000
Article
Publication date: 3 May 2016

Kun Yang, Xingwang You, Jiabing Wang and Kambiz Vafai

The purpose of this paper is to analyze two different approaches (Models A and B) for an adiabatic boundary condition at the wall of a channel filled with a porous medium. The…

255

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze two different approaches (Models A and B) for an adiabatic boundary condition at the wall of a channel filled with a porous medium. The analytical solutions for the velocity distribution, the fluid and solid phase temperature distributions are derived and compared with numerical solutions. The phenomenon of heat flux bifurcation for Model A is demonstrated. The effects of pertinent parameter C on the applicability of the Models A and B are discussed. Analytical solutions for the overall Nusselt number and the heat flux distribution at the channel wall are derived and the influence of pertinent parameters Da and k on the overall Nusselt number and the heat flux distribution is discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

Two approaches (Models A and B) for an adiabatic boundary condition in porous media under local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) conditions are analyzed in this work. The analysis is applied to a microchannel which is modeled as a porous medium.

Findings

The phenomenon of heat flux bifurcation at the wall for Model A is demonstrated. The effect of pertinent parameter C on the applicability of each model is discussed. Model A is applicable when C is relatively large and Model B is applicable when C is small. The heat flux distribution is obtained and the influence of Da and k is discussed. For Model A, ϕAfin increases and ϕAsub, ϕAcover decrease as Da decreases and k is held constant, ϕAsub increases and ϕAfin, ϕAcover decrease as k increases while Da is held constant; for Model B, ϕBfin increases and ϕBsub decreases either as Da decreases or k decreases. The overall Nusselt number is also obtained and the effect of Da and k is discussed: Nu increases as either Da or k decrease for both models. The overall Nusselt number for Model A is larger than that for Model B when Da is large, the overall Nusselt numbers for Models A and B are equivalent when Da is small.

Research limitations/implications

Proper representation of the energy equation and the boundary conditions for heat transfer in porous media is very important. There are two different models for representing energy transfer in porous media: local thermal equilibrium (LTE) and LTNE. Although LTE model is more convenient to use, the LTE assumption is not valid when a substantial temperature difference exists between the solid and fluid phases.

Practical implications

Fluid flow and convective heat transfer in porous media have many important applications such as thermal energy storage, nuclear waste repository, electronic cooling, geothermal energy extraction, petroleum processing and heat transfer enhancement.

Social implications

This work has important fundamental implications.

Originality/value

In this work the microchannel is modeled as an equivalent porous medium. The analytical solutions for the velocity distribution, the fluid and solid phase temperature distributions are obtained and compared with numerical solutions. The first type of heat flux bifurcation phenomenon, which indicates that the direction of the temperature gradient for the fluid and solid phases is different at the channel wall, occurs when Model A is utilized. The effect of pertinent parameter C on the applicability of the models is also discussed. The analytical solutions for the overall Nusselt number and the heat flux distribution at the channel wall are derived, and the effects of pertinent parameters Da and k on the overall Nusselt number and the heat flux distribution are discussed.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 26 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2009

E. Vishnuvardhanarao and Manab Kumar Das

The purpose of this paper is to consider the conjugate heat transfer from a flat plate involving a turbulent plane wall jet. The bottom wall of the solid block is heated by a…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider the conjugate heat transfer from a flat plate involving a turbulent plane wall jet. The bottom wall of the solid block is heated by a constant heat flux.

Design/methodology/approach

High Reynolds number two‐equation model (κϵ) has been used for turbulence modeling. The parameters considered are the conductivity ratio of solid and fluid, the solid slab thickness and the Prandtl number. The Reynolds number considered is 15,000 because the flow becomes fully turbulent and then is independent of the Reynolds number. The range of parameters considered are: conductivity ratio = 1‐1,000, solid slab thickness = 1‐10 and Prandtl number = 0.01‐100.

Findings

The non‐dimensional bottom surface temperature is high for high‐Prandtl number fluid and vice versa. As conductivity ratio increases, it decreases whereas it increases with the increase in slab thickness. Similar trend is observed for the distribution of the interface temperature. The Nusselt number computed based on the interface temperature increases with Prandtl number. It is observed that for the range of parameters considered, local Nusselt number distribution superimposes with each other. The average heat flux at the interface has been computed and found to be equal with average heat flux at the bottom which ensures the overall heat balance.

Originality/value

The study of conjugate heat transfer with a turbulent wall jet will be useful for cooling of heated body.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2005

Pradeep Hegde, K.N. Seetharamu, G.A. Quadir, P.A. Aswathanarayana, M.Z. Abdullah and Z.A. Zainal

To analyze two‐phase flow in micro‐channel heat exchangers used for high flux micro‐electronics cooling and to obtain performance parameters such as thermal resistance, pressure…

1234

Abstract

Purpose

To analyze two‐phase flow in micro‐channel heat exchangers used for high flux micro‐electronics cooling and to obtain performance parameters such as thermal resistance, pressure drop, etc. Both uniform and non‐uniform micro‐channel base heat fluxes are considered.

Design/methodology/approach

Energy balance equations are developed for two‐phase flow in micro‐channels and are solved using the finite element method (FEM). A unique ten noded element is used for the channel descritization. The formulation also automatically takes care of single‐phase flow in the micro‐channel.

Findings

Micro‐channel wall temperature distribution, thermal resistance and the pressure drop for various uniform micro‐channel base heat fluxes are obtained, both for single‐ and two‐phase flows in the micro‐channel. Results are compared against data available in the literature. The wall temperature distribution for a particular case of non‐uniform base heat flux is also obtained.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis is done for a single micro‐channel and the effects of multiple or stacked channels are not considered. The analysis needs to be carried out for higher heat fluxes and the validity of the correlation needs to be ascertained through experimentation. Effects of flow mal‐distribution in multiple channels, etc. need to be considered.

Practical implications

The role of two‐phase flow in micro‐channels for high flux micro‐electronics cooling in reducing the thermal resistance is demonstrated. The formulation is very useful for the thermal design and management of microchannels with both single‐ and two‐phase flows for either uniform or non‐uniform base heat flux.

Originality/value

A simple approach to accurately determine the thermal resistance in micro‐channels with two‐phase flow, for both uniform and non‐uniform base heat fluxes is the originality of the paper.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 January 2012

Sung In Kim, Hamidur Rahman and Ibrahim Hassan

One of the most critical gas turbine engine components, the rotor blade tip and casing, is exposed to high thermal load. It becomes a significant design challenge to protect the…

Abstract

Purpose

One of the most critical gas turbine engine components, the rotor blade tip and casing, is exposed to high thermal load. It becomes a significant design challenge to protect the turbine materials from this severe situation. The purpose of this paper is to study numerically the effect of turbine inlet temperature on the tip leakage flow structure and heat transfer.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the effect of turbine inlet temperature on the tip leakage flow structure and heat transfer has been studied numerically. Uniform low (LTIT: 444 K) and high (HTIT: 800 K) turbine inlet temperature, as well as non‐uniform inlet temperature have been considered.

Findings

The results showed the higher turbine inlet temperature yields the higher velocity and temperature variations in the leakage flow aerodynamics and heat transfer. For a given turbine geometry and on‐design operating conditions, the turbine power output can be increased by 1.33 times, when the turbine inlet temperature increases 1.80 times. Whereas the averaged heat fluxes on the casing and the blade tip become 2.71 and 2.82 times larger, respectively. Therefore, about 2.8 times larger cooling capacity is required to keep the same turbine material temperature. Furthermore, the maximum heat flux on the blade tip of high turbine inlet temperature case reaches up to 3.348 times larger than that of LTIT case. The effect of the interaction of stator and rotor on heat transfer features is also explored using unsteady simulations. The non‐uniform turbine inlet temperature enhances the heat flux fluctuation on the blade tip and casing.

Originality/value

The increase of turbine inlet temperature is usually proposed to achieve the higher turbine efficiency and the higher turbine power output. However, it has not been reported how much the heat transfer into the blade tip and casing increases with the increased turbine inlet temperature. This paper investigates the heat transfer distributions on the rotor blade tip and casing, associated with the tip leakage flow under high and low turbine inlet temperatures, as well as non‐uniform temperature distribution.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 November 2020

Miao Tian and Jun Li

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of ventilation openings and fire intensity on heat transfer and fluid flow within the microclimate between 3D human body and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of ventilation openings and fire intensity on heat transfer and fluid flow within the microclimate between 3D human body and clothing.

Design/methodology/approach

On account of interaction effects of fire and ventilation openings on heat transfer process, a 3D transient computational fluid dynamics model considering the real shape of human body and clothing was developed. The model was validated by comparing heat flux history and distribution with experimental results. Heat transfer modes and fluid flow were investigated under three levels of fire intensity for the microclimate with ventilation openings and closures.

Findings

Temperature distribution on skin surface with open microclimate was heavily depended on the heat transfer through ventilation openings. Higher temperature for the clothing with confined microclimate was affected by the position and direction of flames injection. The presence of openings contributed to the greater velocity at forearms, shanks and around neck, which enhanced the convective heat transfer within microclimate. Thermal radiation was the dominant heat transfer mode within the microclimate for garment with closures. On the contrary, convective heat transfer within microclimate for clothing with openings cannot be neglected.

Practical implications

The findings provided fundamental supports for the ease and pattern design of the improved thermal protective systems, so as to realize the optimal thermal insulation of the microclimate on the garment level in the future.

Originality/value

The outcomes broaden the insights of results obtained from the mesoscale models. Different high skin temperature distribution and heat transfer modes caused by thermal environment and clothing structure provide basis for advanced thermal protective clothing design.

Details

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, vol. 33 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-6222

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1992

J.A. VISSER and H. ROLFES

By modelling the unsteady heat transfer in liquid gas tanks, the temperature distribution in the tank as well as the heat flux reaching the liquid gas can be predicted. Knowledge…

Abstract

By modelling the unsteady heat transfer in liquid gas tanks, the temperature distribution in the tank as well as the heat flux reaching the liquid gas can be predicted. Knowledge of the temperature distribution and heat flux can be used to predict evaporation losses from the tank. By minimizing the evaporation losses, the thermal design of a gas tank can be optimized. This paper presents a finite difference simulation of the unsteady three‐dimensional heat transfer in gas tanks and an optimized configuration. The numerical procedure accounts for radiation from the sun as well as radiative and convective heat transfer with the environment. A non‐uniform grid is used because the tank consists of several different materials of varying dimensions and properties. Geometrical effects such as variations in the thickness of the insulation material and the diameter and height of the tanks are also studied in an attempt to optimize the design configuration.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 2 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 April 2011

Isa Ahmadi and M.M. Aghdam

The purpose of this paper is to present a micromechanical model based on a new truly local meshless method for analysis of heat transfer in composite materials.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a micromechanical model based on a new truly local meshless method for analysis of heat transfer in composite materials.

Design/methodology/approach

The presented meshless method is based on the integral form of energy equation in the sub‐particles in the material. In the presented meshless method due to elimination of domain integration the computational efforts are decreased substantially.

Findings

Numerical results are presented for temperature distribution, heat flux and thermal conductivity. Numerical results show that the presented meshless method is simple, effective, accurate and less costly method in micromechanical modeling of heat conduction in heterogeneous materials.

Research limitations/implications

A small area of the composite system called representative volume element is considered as the solution domain. The fully bonded fiber‐matrix interface is considered and contact thermal resistant is neglected from the fiber matrix interface and so the continuity of temperature and reciprocity of heat flux is satisfied in the fiber‐matrix interface.

Originality/value

For the first time a new truly local meshless method based on the integral form of energy equation for the sub‐particles in the materials is presented for analysis of heat transfer in composite materials.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 21 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2019

Mehdi Zare and Sadegh Sadeghi

This study aims to perform a comprehensive investigation to model the thermal characteristics of a coupled conduction-radiation heat transfer in a two-dimensional irregular…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to perform a comprehensive investigation to model the thermal characteristics of a coupled conduction-radiation heat transfer in a two-dimensional irregular enclosure including a triangular-shaped heat source.

Design/methodology/approach

For this purpose, a promising hybrid technique based on the concepts of blocked-off method, FVM and DOM is developed. The enclosure consists of several horizontal, vertical and oblique walls, and thermal conductivity within the enclosure varies directly with temperature and indirectly with position. To simplify the complex geometry, a promising mathematical model is introduced using blocked-off method. Emitting, absorbing and non-isotropic scattering gray are assumed as the main radiative characteristics of the steady medium.

Findings

DOM and FVM are, respectively, applied for solving radiative transfer equation (RTE) and the energy equation, which includes conduction, radiation and heat source terms. The temperature and heat flux distributions are calculated inside the enclosure. For validation, results are compared with previous data reported in the literature under the same conditions. Results and comparisons show that this approach is highly efficient and reliable for complex geometries with coupled conduction-radiation heat transfer. Finally, the effects of thermo-radiative parameters including surface emissivity, extinction coefficient, scattering albedo, asymmetry factor and conduction-radiation parameter on temperature and heat flux distributions are studied.

Originality/value

In this paper, a hybrid numerical method is used to analyze coupled conduction-radiation heat transfer in an irregular geometry. Varying thermal conductivity is included in this analysis. By applying the method, results obtained for temperature and heat flux distributions are presented and also validated by the data provided by several previous papers.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2003

A. Kassab, E. Divo, J. Heidmann, E. Steinthorsson and F. Rodriguez

We report on the progress in the development and application of a coupled boundary element/finite volume method temperature‐forward/flux‐back algorithm developed to solve…

2124

Abstract

We report on the progress in the development and application of a coupled boundary element/finite volume method temperature‐forward/flux‐back algorithm developed to solve conjugate heat transfer arising in 3D film‐cooled turbine blades. We adopt a loosely coupled strategy where each set of field equations is solved to provide boundary conditions for the other. Iteration is carried out until interfacial continuity of temperature and heat flux is enforced. The NASA‐Glenn explicit finite volume Navier‐Stokes code Glenn‐HT is coupled to a 3D BEM steady‐state heat conduction solver. Results from a CHT simulation of a 3D film‐cooled blade section are compared with those obtained from the standard two temperature model, revealing that a significant difference in the level and distribution of metal temperatures is found between the two. Finally, current developments of an iterative strategy accommodating large numbers of unknowns by a domain decomposition approach is presented. An iterative scheme is developed along with a physically‐based initial guess and a coarse grid solution to provide a good starting point for the iteration. Results from a 3D simulation show the process that converges efficiently and offers substantial computational and storage savings.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 13 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 December 2020

Sayuj Sasidharan and Pradip Dutta

This paper aims to deal with characterisation of the thermal performance of a hybrid tubular and cavity solar thermal receiver.

262

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to deal with characterisation of the thermal performance of a hybrid tubular and cavity solar thermal receiver.

Design/methodology/approach

The coupled optical-flow-thermal analysis is carried out on the proposed receiver design. Modelling is performed in two and three dimensions for estimating heat loss by natural convection for an upward-facing cavity. Heat loss obtained in two dimensions by solving coupled continuity, momentum and energy equation inside the cavity domain is compared with the loss obtained using an established Nusselt number correlation for realistic receiver performance prediction.

Findings

It is found that radiation emission from a heated cavity wall to the ambient is the dominant mode of heat loss from the receiver. The findings recommend that fluid flow path must be designed adjacent to the surface exposed to irradiation of concentrated flux to limit conduction heat loss.

Research limitations/implications

On-sun experimental tests need to be performed to validate the numerical study.

Practical implications

Numerical analysis of receivers provides guidelines for effective and efficient solar thermal receiver design.

Social implications

Pressurised air receivers designed from this method can be integrated with Brayton cycles using air or supercritical carbon-dioxide to run a turbine generating electricity using a solar heat source.

Originality/value

The present paper proposes a novel method for coupling the flux map from ray-tracing analysis and using it as a heat flux boundary condition for performing coupled flow and heat transfer analysis. This is achieved using affine transformation implemented using extrusion coupling tool from COMSOL Multiphysics software package. Cavity surface natural convection heat transfer coefficient is obtained locally based on the surface temperature distribution.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 31 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 3000